Heading into these winter meetings, Ruben Amaro Jr. had three options for improving the Phillies:

1) Dip into the free agent waters.

2) Hammer out a trade.

3) Put down a milli on 13 and pray for a larger bank roll.

Right now, option No. 2 is all the buzz in Vegas as the Phillies have reportedly entered The Fray in the Jake Peavy talks. Jayson Stark from ESPN.com has a good overview of the Peavey situation here. In a nutshell, the Cubs want Peavey, and the Padres want to move him, but the Cubs don't have the prospects the Padres are looking for. Which is where the Phillies could find themselves involved. According to numerous reports, including the usually dead-on Ken Rosenthal at FoxSports.com, the Padres wouldn't mind getting their hands on lefty prospect J.A. Happ. Scott Miller over at CBSSports.com also throws Chris Coste's name into the mix.

I like DeRosa, despite the fact that he is a Penn guy (just kidding). He has put together three straight solid seasons and would give the Phils tremendous flexibility both in the infield and the outfield.

^

We began our first post of the day yesterday by wondering the thought process that went into baseball's decision to hold its annual winter meetings in Las Vegas. In short, High Cheese wondered whether it wasn't the brightest idea to take hundreds of MLB employees who are banned from betting on baseball to a city that features copious amounts of alcohol and legal sports books. Regardless, as a follow up, here is a story in the Boston Herald today about Vegas' sudden realization that the baseball futures market might be compromised by the meetings in Vegas. In other words, should an enterprising media member or low-level non MLB staffer catch wind of the Yankees' imminent signing of CC Sabathia, it wouldn't be terribly difficult for said person to scamper across the lobby at the Bellagio and throw a grand down on the Yankees to win the World Series before their odds drop. It'd be the gambling equivalent of insider trading. Methinks Joe Pesci wouldn't be thrilled about that.

^

As a general rule of thumb, I process any information generated by any national writer other than Ken Rosenthal or the ESPN fellas rather judiciously. Don't get me wrong. Most of them do a terrific job. But sometimes it is unclear where the burden of proof lies. So take the following for what it is worth, but SI.com's Jon Heyman is reporting that the Phillies are "believed to have" offered Jamie Moyer two years and $14 million, while Moyer is holding out for two years and $18 million. What does "believed to have" mean? Believed by whom? The passive voice and speculative baseball writing - it is a beautiful thing.

^

Mark Loretta, once rumored to be on the Phillies radar, has signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

^

A Japanese news service is reporting that the Astros have interest in So Taguchi.